Meta Quest 3 spotted in the wild — here’s what it looks like

The Meta Quest 3 VR headset was announced back in June just before the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase, and is almost certainly launching at Meta Connect on September 27. Now we're getting a potential first look at what the $499 contender for best VR headset looks like in the wild.

Twitter (X) user ZGFTECH dropped a surprise video tweet earlier today (noticed by our friends at Android Central) showing off the yet-to-be-released headset from every angle. And while it didn’t show off anything groundbreaking — Meta has already shown off the headset extensively — it’s still shocking to see how sleek this latest VR headset looks compared to the Meta Quest 2. 

Meta claims that the Quest 3’s headset has a 40% slimmer design than the Quest 2, and after seeing this video I certainly believe it. This thing looks svelte compared to the Quest 2 headset I’m staring at perched on the shelf above my monitor.

You can also see a couple of other changes in the headset design, from a slightly redesigned strap to the built-in speakers that have transitioned from inward-facing speakers at the rear of the strap connector to downward-facing speakers towards the front of the headset.

And the Touch Plus controllers are noticeably slimmer as well, thanks to the lack of the tracking ring on the Quest 2’s Touch controllers. It also looks like the angle of the interface where the controllers' buttons and triggers are located has shifted slightly from the Touch to the Touch Plus, which may be an ergonomic improvement. It’s tough to know for sure though until we actually get to test out the Quest 3.

Meta Quest 3 spec sheet so far

Despite having seen the Meta Quest 3 in official videos from Meta and now in a leaked video of it out in the wild, there’s still a lot we don’t know about Meta’s next VR headset. But let’s go over what we do know.

The Quest 3 will launch with a base storage option of 128 GB, on par with the current base model of the Meta Quest 2. A larger storage size model is expected, but it’s still unclear how much storage you’ll get for your extra dollars.

And while we don’t know which chipset will power the Quest 3, Meta has dropped some hints. The Quest 3 will use a next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon chip that manages twice the graphics performance of the Quest 2. Similarly, Meta says that the LCD display will feature a “nearly 30% leap in resolution from Quest 2” and feature the best resolution of any Quest headset so far. But again, we don’t have any official numbers to back that up.

One thing we don’t expect to get an upgrade is the battery life. Meta chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth has stated that the battery life will be "About the same as Quest 2, plus or minus." There is a rumor that the Quest 3 and its controllers will get a wireless charging dock based on a recent FCC filing, but unfortunately, we didn’t get anything in this latest leak to confirm or deny that possibility. So follow along with our Meta Quest 3 coverage in the lead-up to Meta Connect, where we should finally get the answers to all these questions and more. 

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